Scientists from Mount Sinai found that people with a specific form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in the United States, are at significant risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke.
The research is published in Retina and was conducted by R. Theodore Smith et al.
For the last three decades researchers have suggested an association between AMD and heart disease, but there has been no conclusive data on this until now.
AMD is the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in people over 65 years old and is the result of damage to the central area of the retina called the macula, which is responsible for reading and driving vision.
One major form of early AMD is called drusen, where small yellow cholesterol deposits form in a layer under the retina.
They can deprive the retina of blood and oxygen, leading to vision loss. Drusen formation can be slowed by appropriate vitamin supplementation.
The other major form of early AMD is the presence of subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD), which is lesser known and requires high-tech retinal imaging to detect.
These deposits are also made of fatty lipids and other materials, but a form in a different layer beneath the light-sensitive retina cells, where they are also associated with vision loss. Currently, there is no known treatment for SDD.
In the study, the team analyzed 126 patients with AMD, using optical coherence tomography (OCT)—an advanced imaging system that provides high-resolution cross-sectional scans of the retina.
Of the patients in the study, 62 had SDD and 64 had drusen; 51 of the 126 total patients (40 percent) reported having heart disease or a past stroke, and most (66 percent) of those patients had SDD.
By contrast, of the 75 patients who did not have known heart disease or stroke, relatively few (19 percent) had SDD.
This means patients with heart disease or stroke were three times more likely to have SDD than patients without.
The researchers suggested that the underlying heart and vascular disease likely compromise blood circulation in the eye, leading to the SDDs beneath the retina and ultimately causing vision loss and blindness.
Researchers also collected patient blood samples, and results show genetic risk factors may also play a role in SDD cases in addition to vascular causes.
Specifically, they found that the ARMS2 gene acted independently of vascular disease to cause SDD in some patients.
If you care about eye health, please read studies about how your eyes could show early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, and a new treatment for severe dry eye disease.
For more information about eye health, please see recent studies about vitamin A analog that may help treat eye diseases, and results showing new eye drops may prevent a common cause of blindness.
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